Waiter, There's Something in my Courgettes! Having missed a
couple of instalments of this most
excellent meme, this month hosted by Jeanne at Cook Sister!, I am delighted to
have coincided with what is surely the first ever foodblog meme devoted
to stuffing. I went with courgettes with a rice stuffing - not hugely
original but oft-repeated with good reason. These courgettes were
particularly small and tasty - a good point to catch them at. A slight
scooping down the middle of each half made a berth for the rice, which
I'd cooked with onion, garlic, allspice, cinnamon and a tiny bit of
chilli powder. Then lots of olive oil and into the oven - where I
probably should have covered them; one wants a slight crisping of the
top but by the time the courgettes were soft all through this was a bit
crisper than I'd intended. The finishing touch was to sit them on some
warm red pepper purée with a dash of pomegranate molasses and a
scattering of fresh mint.

We did eat out a couple of times in Paris: something old and something
new, as the saying goes. We went back to lovely Ze Kitchen Galerie, where one
course with a glass of wine and coffee for 24 euros makes us feel as
though we've had a very special lunch. I had squid and octopus, with
green apple and turmeric sauce, but also some very cool deep fried
spinach(?); C went for cod, which came with the most delicious piperade
and brandade with thai herbs. I know it all sounds a bit jumbled, like a
Scottish
ballot paper, and it could hardly be less like the way I cook, as
even at my most experimental I'm a bit draconian about only combining
within 'authentic' flavour families, but the chef is very good and
somehow it all works. And after a fortnight of delicious but somewhat
repetitive Moroccan food, these fresh ingredients and exotic
combinations really hit the spot.

The something new was Cojean,
which is rather like a French Pret a Manger - salads and sandwiches for
quick lunch-breaks, whether you need sustainance for shopping, as we did
(at the branch on Boulevard Haussmann, handy for les Grands Magasins),
or returning to the office. The frenchness is evident in the little
quirks, like the names of the smoothies ('a summer evening in the
garden', for instance) and the 'Clotilde' sandwich - which was no longer
on offer, but my toasted sandwich with roasted aubergine and fresh goats
cheese was consolation enough.

We chose it as a venue because we thought it would fit - and it
did. Our motto throughout has been 'no frills', and we wanted the
reception to be bright, and clean, and fuss-free. The food generous and
seasonal (and interesting but not scary); the wine french, the lamb
english. We didn't want flowers, or ribbons, or a colour theme, or
speeches, or dancing, or formal photos, or 'wedding food' and a big
white cake (not that I haven't loved those things at other people's
weddings, and always will: but they aren't us). And that's exactly the
way it was: just lots of friends and family in a big bright room full of
the smell of food and the sound of happy chatter. Wonderful.